Weekly Round Up

I have a lot to write. However, my schedule prevents me from doing it the way I would have wanted to. I was pressed to find a solution? The solution, publish a summary of things that I felt was interesting and would interest you. Until I can write regularly or we have more people contributing this space, this might be the arrangement. Please continue reading for the first ever wiztec weekly roundup.

FTIR: This is about FTIR (Frustrated Total Internal Reflection), nothing new but something very interesting with promise. Read on what Han a researcher at New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences has to say about it. The touch driven interface is so lovely. Catch Han in a video on TED in TEDTalks in Monterey. (source Slashdot.org)
Update: Check this video by Han at TED 2007.

Virtual Fabric: Another thing that interested be was this blog on Engadget. There is a research going on in University of Geneva that will incorporate touch into your online shopping. Now will that not be fantastic. Now will it be a success !! Whatever happened to online aroma sensing, that I last heard of when I was in college.

Penny Powered LED: Have you ever wondered what you would do with all your old coins that have piled up since your fad for coin collection passed. Of course you can always display it to no one in particular or give it to your child who does not need it. Now you need not worry about all this, Makezine brings you an interesting way to power a LED. Check this following link on one of the many ways to put those pennies to use.

Alien World: Since you are already on flickr, have a look at the following pics in the album Halloween 2006. Those of you who shudder at the thought of aliens please refrain from clicking this link.

Visual Search: Gadgetell brings to us a search engine "Quintura". One more search engine, yes it is, but it might hold your interest for a few more seconds than that one more search engine. What appeals to me is the following features it has to offer. "Context Management", "Dynamic Data Clustering", "Visual Symantic Map" all these coupled with a friendly clean interface. The search results themselves look very impressive, though I cannot comment much until I put it to extensive use.

First Speaker Phone: Many a times the past looks more beautiful than the present and the future. More so when it is presented in a elegant manner. Another one from Makezine is a post on "First Speaker Phone". The phone for sure is impressive. However, what hooked me is the blog itself. This blog named Modern Mechanix, has the history of many things, categorising them under various heads of Automation, Computers, Aviation, Cool and so on. Its is a must in the feeds of all blogdicts.